Newcastle have slumped to their second straight disastrous defeat after going down 50-2 to the Melbourne Storm on Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium.
With results getting steadily worse, The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio believes Knights fans are starting to abandon the team, as shown through crowd figures over the last fortnight.
Against Parramatta the previous Sunday, more than 25,000 saw the Knights go down 39-2 to the Eels, and Riccio believes that result was cause for only 15,000 turning up to see the side drubbed by the Storm exactly one week later.
“Straight off the top is the crowd figure, there was 15,000 (on Sunday versus Melbourne), but they had 25,000 the week before (against Parramatta),” Riccio said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“That shows the frustration of the Novocastrian fans, 10,000 less on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, knowing what they saw the week before against Parramatta (would likely happen again).
“Only 15,000 is a small crowd for Newcastle, they have a really passionate supporter base, that’s a concern for me.
“Only one team has a worse attack than the Knights statistically, that’s Canterbury, the Knights are scoring 11.5 points per game this season.”
With their performances falling by the wayside, Riccio turned his attention to recently re-signed superstar Kalyn Ponga and questioned whether the number one was the right man to lead the side as captain.
“I’m starting to wonder and question within my own mind whether Kalyn Ponga is the right captain for Newcastle,” Riccio said.
“I go to his post-match conference after the game … Kalyn was asked, ‘What will you say to the team in the dressing room post-match’.
“I get it, it’s immediately after the game, emotions are high and he hasn’t had time to think of it … but he is the leader, he is the captain of this club that means so much to so many people.
“People hang on every word their captain says, his response was, ‘Not much. I don’t know, I’ll think of something’.
“I just think there’s not much I’ve seen from Kalyn as far as sending a strong message of body language and communication that, ‘This is going to be okay’.
“I just thought it needed more of that, it reminds me when Matt Moylan when he was captain of Penrith.
“Some people aren’t naturals in the role, Kalyn has some development in that area.”
The Knights now sit last on the NRL table and they’ll be hoping to break their six-match losing streak when they head to Townsville to face the Cowboys on Saturday night.